The Point of it All
by kiwiana.inked
Summary: Sam and Dean investigate a string of murders in Seattle, and end up in Forks...


_Note: This takes place during Eclipse, and near the beginning of Season Three of Supernatural. I don't own the Twilight series, Supernatural, or any of their characters... as much as I wish I did._

"Hey Dean, look at this," said Sam, throwing a newspaper at the bed beside him.

"Huh? What? Is it morning already?" Dean emerged from under the covers, looking dazed. "Have you found something, Sammy?"

"Yeah, maybe... there's been a whole string of gruesome murders in Seattle – five people have turned up dead in the last month. Something's messing people up big time."

"It could just be some psycho serial killer," Dean shrugged, pulling on his shirt and heading toward the bathroom in their shared motel room. "I mean, gruesome murders? Doesn't sound particularly... demon-y."

Sam frowned at the newspaper. "Yeah, the police are saying it's a serial killer... but there's no connection between the victims. Young, old, man, woman, black, white? Killers usually have a pattern, Dean. This is like... like anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time is getting killed. Something's not right here; I think we should check it out."

Dean grinned at him. "Not until we've had breakfast," he said, grabbing the keys to his Impala, and heading out the door. Sam followed, shaking his head.

Later that day, the brothers were driving down the freeway listening to AC/DC. Sam was trying to work out what could be killing people in Seattle, while Dean enthusiastically sang along to _Thunderstruck_.

"A ghost? There's no apparent connection between the victims, but maybe the police have missed something... a vampire? Some of the murders happened during the day... demon? They don't generally slaughter people... Dean?"

"Huh? Oh right, the case... a vampire, maybe?" Dean offered. Sam resisted rolling his eyes with difficulty, but couldn't suppress a small sigh.

"Some of the murders happened during the day, Dean," he reiterated.

"Oh," said Dean. "Right. I knew that."

"I don't know, Dean. I can't figure this one out. I mean, there's definitely something unnatural going on in Seattle - I just can't figure out what it is. I think I'll give Bobby a call; he might have some idea of what we could be dealing with."

~*~

Meanwhile, in the small town of Forks, 132 miles from the mass murders in Seattle, Bella Swan sat very still as she digested the information that a newborn vampire was behind the killings. Her love, the beautiful vampire Edward Cullen, had just finished explaining to her that his family believed a newborn was behind the attacks; they just couldn't figure out who had created it, or why no one was taking responsibility for their new creation.

It made Bella nervous, although she was trying desperately to hide that from Edward. After all, she would be a newborn herself before long... if she didn't trust the Cullens absolutely, and love Edward more than anything else in the world, this might have been enough to turn her off her path to immortality. As it was, it made her shudder to think that soon enough, she could be this bloodthirsty, and have no control over her own senses...

"Bella, love?" Edward's voice broke into her thoughts. Mentally shaking herself, Bella turned to face him, and smiled.

"Is you family going to do anything? Like, go to Seattle?" Try as she might, she couldn't keep the nervousness out of her voice this time.

Edward noticed, and softly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Bella, none of us would let anything happen to you. You know that."  
Exasperated, Bella batted his hand away. It hurt. "I'm not worried about _me_, Edward! I'm worried about _you_! What if something happened to you... Esme... Alice...?" it didn't bear thinking about.

Edward laughed lightly. "Nothing's going to happen to us, silly girl. Chances are we won't even go to Seattle... not unless the situation gets worse. It's more likely that the Volturi will step in, if the killings continue to attract attention."  
Bella shuddered at the mention of the Volturi. She was still haunted by her encounter with the leaders of the vampire world... by Aro with his bright red eyes...

"Relax, love," Edward whispered, his lips against her hair. "I have to go; it's nearly 10.30..." then, so quietly she could almost have imagined it, he murmured, "See you soon."

Bella smiled to herself. She was lucky Charlie, her father, slept so soundly – he had no idea of Edward's nightly visits.

"Goodnight, Charlie," Edward called from the front door. There was a grunt of reply from the living room as he kissed Bella, then ran out into the night. Bella smiled to herself, said goodnight to her father, and went up the stairs to wait for her beloved.

~*~

The Impala arrived in Seattle about 10pm, and the boys headed straight to a motel. Tired from the long drive, they headed straight to bed.

Sam was woken at 7.30am by a phone call from Bobby, who was completely stumped by the murders. "Are you sure it's not a human doing this, Sam?" he asked cautiously.

Sam sighed. "No, not completely... but you've got to admit, it's weird, Bobby. I mean, all we can do is check it out."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Bobby replied. "I'll see if I can find anything out; you boys call if you need anything."  
" Sure thing," Sam said before hanging up. "Dean? Dean!"

"Huh? What?"

"Come on; we've got to find out where all the victims lived, and go talk to the families. Get dressed."

"What are we today?" Dean smirked. "Cops or priests?"

Sam threw a badge at him. "FBI; now move your ass."

~*~

By 9am the brothers, dressed in suits and armed with fake FBI badges, were in Charles Gardiner's living room. Charles was beyond distraught – he didn't seem to know how to cope with his wife's sudden death.

"Maureen was only 43 years old," he sobbed to Sam and Dean, who looked on sympathetically. "She was kind to everyone... she had no enemies... who would do this to her?"

"Well, that's what we're trying to find out, sir," said Sam, as Dean handed over another box of tissues. "So... there's no one you can think of who'd want to hurt your wife?"

"No!" Charles exclaimed vehemently. "She was the kindest person I ever knew. Everybody who met Maureen loved her!"

"Did she know any of the other victims?" Dean asked. Charles shook his head.

"No... I don't think so," he responded, before breaking down in tears once again.

Sam and Dean exchanged an awkward glance, then Sam said, "Well, we'll be in touch if we need anything else..." before the brothers hurried out the door.

"Wow!" Dean chuckled once they were safely back in the Impala. "Was that guy upset, or what?"

Sam looked at him in disgust. "He just lost his wife, Dean. You don't think he's allowed to be a little sad?"

Dean had the grace to look a little ashamed of himself as he cranked up the music and drove off.

~*~

Back in Forks, the Seattle murders more or less slipped Bella's mind. Between college applications, trying to convince Charlie to be civil to Edward, and trying to convince _Edward_ to let her go to La Push, she simply didn't have time to be thinking about a crazed newborn wreaking havoc over a hundred miles away... until she noticed the headline:

**SEATTLE SLAYINGS INTENSIFYING**

The body count was picking up; three more bodies had been found since her discussion with Edward just three days ago. It was enough to make Bella feel slightly ill. She just couldn't believe that one vampire, even a newborn, could be capable of that level of destruction. According to Edward, his brother Jasper suspected that someone had created more than one vampire; the question was _why_. And more importantly, why not control them?

For now, the Cullens had decided that staying away was safer – at least until they were sure of what they were dealing with – much to Bella's relief. She couldn't bear the thought of Edward, or any of his family, getting hurt; she knew from earlier discussions with Edward and Carlisle that newborns were indeterminately strong.

~*~

Sam and Dean had now talked to the families of all the victims, and still had no leads and no idea what they were dealing with. Bobby didn't have a clue; there was nothing in John's diary... the brothers were just about ready to pack it in, although neither wanted to be the one to suggest it.

As they sat down for lunch in a diner, a beautiful redhead approached their table.  
"Excuse me," she said quietly, in possibly the most attractive voice either Sam or Dean had ever heard, "but I heard on the grapevine that you boys are investigating the murders?"

"Well, uh, um, yeah..." they both spluttered, somewhat overwhelmed by her nearness.

"Oh good," she practically whispered, sliding into the booth beside Dean. "Because I... oh, but it's just a rumour; you're probably not interested..." and she made to leave.

"No, no, wait," Sam said quickly. "Tell us whatever you've heard; how else will we know if it's relevant?" he smiled at the woman.

"Well... okay," she smiled tentatively back. "See, I _heard_, and this is _just_ a rumour, that the people responsible are hiding out in a town called Forks. It's a couple of hours from here..."

"People? Not person?" Dean asked carefully.

The woman looked down at the table. "People are saying... it's a group, or a family," she whispered. "I mean, I have no idea... that's just what they're saying. People were tossing a name around at one stage... Collins? Cullen? But I'm sure that's just people letting their imagination run away with them... anyway, I'd better go. I do hope you don't think too badly of me; repeating silly rumours to FBI agents," she murmured, biting her lip.

"No, that's... fine..." Dean replied, still staring at her as she glided – there was no other word for it – out of the diner. "Wow. That is one fine-looking chick, Sammy..." he trailed off as he noticed Sam's expression. "So, we going to Forks?"  
"Looks like it," Sam sighed, as he got out his wallet.

~*~

Outside the diner, Victoria smiled to herself. Oh, she knew the Cullens would be able to deflect those two... but she hadn't been able to resist a little amusement.

~*~

Bella was just coming out of the supermarket when she tripped over her feet, only to be caught before she could hit the ground. She looked up, blushing, and said "Thanks... sorry, I do that a lot."

Dean laughed. "Well, it's not every day beautiful girls fall at my feet!"

Sam coughed, and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "jailbait". Dean looked at Bella a little sheepishly, and said, "Actually, I was wondering if you could help us... we're looking for someone; we think their last name might be Collins?"

Bella stared up at him. "Not Cullen?" she said carefully.

"Yeah, that's it! Cullen," Dean exclaimed. "It's just..." he pulled out his badge. "We think they might know something about something, so we'd really love to talk to them... if you could help us out?"

Bella raised an eyebrow, but before she could respond, Edward came up behind her.

"I'm Edward Cullen," he said pleasantly. "This is my... girlfriend, Bella. What can I help you with?"

Sam flashed his badge. "We're investigating the Seattle murders; your family's name has come up. Care to shed any light on that?"

"Well, anything to help the FBI..." Edward murmured in a tone that made Sam think he knew they weren't really feds; but of course, that was ridiculous. "I'm afraid I don't know any more than what I've read in the papers. It's terrible... I do hope you find whoever's responsible."

His sincere tone was hard to fault, Bella thought wryly to herself. She wondered how the Cullens' name had come up. There was something they were missing, it seemed. From the set of Edward's jaw, he was thinking the same – or so she thought.

Edward was watching the two boys, who were standing a little way away, clearly wondering how to proceed, when suddenly he blurted, "That's disgusting!"  
At first Bella assumed he had heard something one of them said, but from the shocked on Sam's face and confusion on Dean's, she realized he must have answered a thought instead. That was strange... Edward was usually well-practised enough not to make that mistake. Bella frowned, wondering what she was missing out on.

"What?" Sam demanded, looking angry and... a little fearful? No, surely not.

Edward blinked once and recovered, although his lip was still curled in what seemed to be disgust.

"Oh... I saw something across the road," he said breezily; only Bella noticed the tightness of his jaw that had not relaxed. "If that's all...?"

Sam turned to look behind him, and could have sworn he saw a huge russet wolf moving about in the trees. For a moment he was excited; they hadn't considered werewolves. It quickly dawned upon him, however, that there was a reason for that – it was both daytime, and about ten days from the full moon. Sam frowned – it was just a normal wolf then – and turned his attention back to the conversation.

"Actually," Dean was saying, "we'd like to talk to your family, if that's okay?"

Edward raised one eyebrow. "Certainly, although they won't have anything else to tell you... would you care to follow me?"

Sam studied Edward as they headed to their respective cars. He was undeniably attractive; disconcertingly so. In that way, he reminded Sam of the girl in the Seattle diner. He was also overly pale – although with this cloud cover, was that really so surprising? – but the strangest thing about him was the colour of his eyes. Sam cross-referenced these points in his head; the closest thing he could come up with was _vampire_, which was rendered moot by the fact that they were walking down the street in the middle of the afternoon.

Sam sighed to himself. The kid was strange, but he couldn't quite put a finger on what was wrong...

~*~

Fifteen minutes later, the Impala pulled up outside the Cullens' home. Edward had walked in the front door less than a minute before they did, yet both brothers could have sworn that he'd told them all what they were there for; six people had come downstairs to gather in the hallway.

Sam and Dean questioned them all individually. Yes, they'd read about the Seattle murders in the newspapers: tragic. No, they certainly were not involved; how could they be? That was ridiculous... they had work, and school; how could they be slaughtering strangers in Seattle? More to the point, why would they?

A phone call from Bobby interrupted the brothers' confusion – he had a job for them; were they done in Seattle? Sam and Dean conferred quietly in the kitchen, and decided that they weren't getting anywhere. There was nothing supernatural that they could find, although this family was weird beyond belief...

~*~

As they drove out of the small town, both bewildered by what they had just been through, Dean said, "I wonder what that Edward kid was so disgusted by?"  
"Maybe he was a mind reader," Sam laughed, winking at his brother. It took Dean a minute, then he laughed too.

"Oh, Sammy... trust you! But seriously now, can we just pretend this job never happened? Forks is one weird-ass town... I'm glad to be getting out, to be honest."

"Works for me," Sam agreed, as Bon Jovi blasted out of the stereo.


End file.
